{"id":1560003,"date":"2022-07-18T18:19:19","date_gmt":"2022-07-18T22:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1560003"},"modified":"2022-07-18T18:19:21","modified_gmt":"2022-07-18T22:19:21","slug":"democrats-target-crypto-companies-because-their-carbon-footprints-are-too-big","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-target-crypto-companies-because-their-carbon-footprints-are-too-big\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats Target Crypto Companies Because Their Carbon Footprints Are Too Big"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrats-target-crypto-companies-because-their-carbon-footprints-are-too-big%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1560003&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Democratic lawmakers on Monday urged a probe of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/cryptocurrency\">cryptocurrency<\/a> companies\u2019 mining activities and their impact on <a href=\"http:\/\/dailywire.com\/topic\/climate-change\">climate change<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Cryptocurrencies are \u201cmined\u201d as computers operate \u201cproof of work\u201d algorithms that solve complicated mathematical problems, thereby earning new tokens. According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.warren.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/2022.07.15%20Letter%20to%20EPA%20and%20DOE%20Re%20Cryptomining%20Environmental%20Impacts.pdf\">letter<\/a> \u2014 signed by Sen. <a href=\"http:\/\/dailywire.com\/topic\/elizabeth-warren\">Elizabeth Warren<\/a> (D-MA), Rep. <a href=\"http:\/\/dailywire.com\/topic\/rashida-tlaib\">Rashida Tlaib<\/a> (D-MI), and other lawmakers \u2014 the amount of power used to procure the coins now rivals the total annual energy usage of countries like Norway or Sweden, and may surpass the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions ascribed to electric cars.<\/p>\n<p>The letter urges Energy Secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/jennifer-granholm\">Jennifer Granholm<\/a> and Environmental Protection Agency (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/environmental-protection-agency-epa\">EPA<\/a>) Administrator Michael Regan to \u201crequire emissions and energy use reporting by cryptominers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cState and federal regulators currently know little about the scope of the problem. There is no national or state reporting requirement or compilation of the locations of cryptomining facilities in the United States, and no federal regulations specifically governing cryptomining,\u201d the lawmakers explained. \u201cConsequently, policymakers and the public do not have a comprehensive source of information about where these operations are located, how much energy they consume, and what their sources of energy are \u2014 and without the energy use and source reporting, there is a subsequent lack of data regarding the associated air emissions of pollutants or carbon dioxide.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The letter was sent after many cryptocurrencies \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/what-exactly-is-bitcoin-heres-how-the-worlds-largest-cryptocurrency-actually-works\">decentralized digital money<\/a> that can be transferred between users\u2019 virtual wallets \u2014 recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/bitcoin-plunges-below-20000-mark-as-crypto-freefall-continues\">plummeted<\/a> in price. The exchange rate of <a href=\"http:\/\/dailywire.com\/topic\/bitcoin\">Bitcoin<\/a>, for instance, fell from around $48,400 at the end of December to roughly $21,600 as of Monday. Exchange platform Coinbase is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/crypto-winter-coinbase-to-lay-off-nearly-one-fifth-of-staff\">preparing<\/a> to lay off 18% of its workforce, while the founders of cryptocurrency venture fund 3AC have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/bankrupt-crypto-entrepreneurs-nowhere-to-be-found-after-investors-come-knocking\">nowhere to be found<\/a> as their company defaults on hundreds of millions in loans.<\/p>\n<p>The lawmakers reached out to seven cryptocurrency companies in the United States, leading them to conclude that \u201ccryptominers are large energy users that account for a significant \u2014 and rapidly growing \u2014 amount of carbon emissions.\u201d Invoking the Clean Air Act, the letter urges the agencies to require energy consumption reports from entities mining the currencies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis collected data would enable valuable public policy activities, including better monitoring of energy use and trends, better evidence basis for policy making, improved data for national mitigation analyses, better abilities for evaluating technology policies for the sector, and better modeling of national and regional grid loads and transitions,\u201d the lawmakers said.<\/p>\n<p>Cryptocurrencies are particularly popular among younger Americans. The 2022 Investopedia Financial Literacy Survey showed that 28% of Millennials \u2014 those between the ages of 26 and 41 \u2014 expect to use the digital coins to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/gen-z-millennials-are-relying-on-crypto-for-their-retirements\">support themselves<\/a> in their retirements. Nearly 20% of Gen Z \u2014 those between 18 and 25 \u2014 said the same.<\/p>\n<p>Warren has also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/warren-asks-biden-administration-to-crack-down-on-cryptocurrencies\">called<\/a> for a crackdown on the cryptocurrency sector due to a purported lack of regulation in the marketplace.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have become increasingly concerned about the dangers cryptocurrencies pose to investors, consumers, and the environment in the absence of sufficient regulation in the United States,\u201d she wrote to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen last summer. \u201cHowever, as the demand for cryptocurrencies continues to grow and these assets become more embedded in our financial system, the Council must determine whether these trends raise concerns beyond investor and consumer protection and extend to broader systemic vulnerabilities that could threaten financial stability.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democratic lawmakers on Monday urged a probe of cryptocurrency companies\u2019 mining activities and their impact on climate change. Cryptocurrencies are \u201cmined\u201d as computers operate \u201cproof of work\u201d algorithms that solve complicated mathematical problems, thereby earning new tokens. According to the letter \u2014 signed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and other lawmakers &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1574348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1560003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1560003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1560003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1560003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1574348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1560003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1560003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1560003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}